UN warns Sudan gum arabic trade helps sustain civil war

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, July 15 (Reuters) – The United Nations human rights office on Wednesday called on states, businesses and parties linked to Sudan’s globally-relevant gum arabic industry ​to uphold international law, warning that profits from the ‌sector are helping sustain the country’s civil war.

The conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now in its fourth year, has displaced millions and devastated much of the country.

Sudan produces around 80% of the world’s gum ‌arabic, a ​natural substance harvested from acacia trees ⁠and widely used to mix, ⁠stabilise and thicken ingredients in mass-market products including soft drinks, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

In a report, the U.N. said significant amounts of the commodity had been taken from areas controlled by ​the RSF and smuggled into neighbouring transit countries, from which they are exported as locally produced items – making it hard to ⁠track.

Some gum arabic has also been ⁠taken from areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed ​Forces and transported to Port Sudan for export, it added.

The report ​also warned that companies in the sector could be exposed to ‌conflict-related human rights risks.

Part of Sudan’s gum arabic production comes from areas affected by the fighting and the U.N. human rights office found that people working in the trade have faced threats ⁠to their safety, and suffered large-scale looting, including by parties to the conflict.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk urged companies to ensure that ⁠they are not contributing ‌to adverse human rights impacts or to ⁠sustaining the conflict.

“Companies cannot continue business as usual ​when sourcing ‌from conflict-affected value chains,” Turk said, urging ​strong due diligence ⁠of where their ingredients are being sourced.

The report highlighted an example in May 2025 when the Gum Arabic Exchange and its warehouses, and parts of the wider market in El-Nuhud were reportedly looted by the RSF, affecting local livelihoods.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, editing ​by Andrei Khalip)